Wichita eagle., 1887-01-02


| is 10, allowed to see copy Of his own
| evidence or that CT the witnesses But
when the Judge has failed to obtain a con-
feSssion the prisoner is@ unexpectedly con-
| fronted with one or more OF the witnesses
against him, or with an accoTnpiice If
there be one, in the hopes CT surprising him
into a confession. Should the prisoner re-
fuse to answer he IS put on dist Of bread
| and water. In casss of murder the ac-
cused Is led to the spot where the crime was
committed, and the bleeding corpse or, may
be, the moldering remains are suddenly
shown to him. Torture used to bs employed
to wiring a confession from him He was
subjected to thumbscrew, the rack and to
fire. Sometimes hs vas kept for months
during winter without fire, and In damp
cells where ne was agonized with rheuIna
tism and agus. The cases arc innumer-
able in which false confessions of guilt were
thus extorted from innocent persons.
| Others have committed suicide rather than
confess to crimes they had not committed.
The examining judge now proceeded
vigorously TO collect proofs Of Harie's guilt.
/ He took the evidence Of Lampsrt on oath.
In that evidence Lampert acknowledged
that lie could find no signs OF his lock hav-
ing been tampered with nor OF the seal hav-
ing been forced. Nevertheless, he was able
to swear, by the date Of the ducat found in
Narie's pocket, that it was one Of those
pieces of coin which he had sealed up in his
leather pouch and locked into tie chest.
Marie was questioned. She acknowledged
that every evening she went into the bed
room ard where the Golfer was to tidy the
room and prepare the bsd for her master.
Usually she had with her the daughter of
her master She confessed that she had
been engaged in the room ON the evening
preceding the discovery. Also she admitted
that the dress in the pocket Of which the
ducat was found was one of her own, and
one moreover which she had worn on that
very evening. Nevertheless, she persisted
in her assertion that she was entirely inno-
cent Of the charge.
The mother of the girl was next cross
examined by the judge. The poor woman,
like so many of the uneducatsd, thought to
save her daughter by having recourse to
falsehood. 1t is a curious fac. that tho IN
cultured in a civilized land, like thu savage,
regards lying as a natural means Of protec
ton which it is always safe, and never
wrong, to have recourse to- Frau Keller,
confronted with the judge, at once, and
! naturally, fell back on lying. Whom asked
whence her daughter had obtained the due
OF, the poor woman said that it was god
mothers present to Marie, which she Che
mother had formerly retained in her pos
session, bU5 which she had given to Mario
when she went into lampert's service, be-
cause she feared lest, in the event Of her
own death, her other children might seizo
On the ducat and refuse to give it up to
Marie
The poor woman, in telling this story,
completely broke down the doubt which
the judge had felt hitherto in Mario's guilt
He looked at TIE ducat, and it proved by
the date on it to havo been struck four
years after Maries birth. Tho judge at
once charged tho woman with conniving at
her daughters guilt and showed her how
| false was her evidence on the testimony OF
the date on the tiGcGt. This completely up
set Frau Keller; she was unable to speak
for some minutes, and at last, in broken
and hesitating voice, told tho Judge that
Maries' mistress had sent for her and offered
her the money to indemnify Lampert for
his loss, if she would confess that her daugll-
ter had committed the theft and persuade
| Marie to do SO as well.
The judge was so irritated at the woman 8
lie about the ducat that ho dismissed this
new story es a fabrication es false as tho
former, and made no inquiry in that direc
ton. He ordered Marie to bo brought into
the room, and asked her whether she had
been given a ducat By her mother, which
had been christening present from a spol-
sor. The girl expressed surprise at the ques-
ton, and in her simplicity replied that she
had never had such present.
Then he confronted tho mother With the
daughter.
Frau Keller, confused, and in her con-
fusion having recourse to her original false
hood, insisted that what she had said was
true concerning the ducat, that Mario was
a half witted creature who forgot tho sim
plest things told her. Marie On her side,
entreated her mother, for Gods sake, to
speak the truth She persisted in asserting
| that her mother never had told her about a
christening present, and certainly lad given
| her none.
The end Of this altercation IVES that Frau
Keller confessed she had told a lie, and
entreated forgiveness, because she had
been impelled by love for her daughter to
do all in her power to screen her from the
| charge of theft and to save her life.
| The inquiring judge now demanded that
Marie should be put on the rack, and be
! forced to confess her guilt Tho court
appointed counsel for the defence, who
opposed this demand.
| He pointed out that there was 20 trust
worthy evidence against Aarie. 1t was
true that Herr Lampert had lost money; but
what proof was there that it Lad boen taken
By the accused. Was it possible that
rude, uneducated girl could havo coatrived
a theft so craftily that the smallest trace Of
| tampering with the lock and soal was not
be discovered? 1t behoovej ;l.s accGser to
show that she had the keys and tie signet
OF Lampert in her power, and this could
not be shown. Ee declared that he always
carried both about with him, aa1 had never
missed either for q single Cay. How was
she to know that the cof-er contained
money, when she vas never present when it
was opens For aught she knew it might
have contained legal documents 1t was
quite true that she was allowed to enter tho
room where the chest was kept, bit size
was there almost invariably attended By
Lampert's daughter, who assisted in tho
domeStic duties.
1t was also true that duc:t had becn
found in her pocket; but how could Lam
pert swear that it was one Of his ducats2
vas his ducat tie only ons coinei il that
years We're Dutch ducats slch raritie5
that oriy his SIX found their way TO Berlin,
How tho ducat csnle into her pocket Mario
vas unable TO explain; but was it not pro5a-
BE that Ii. real thief who hsd tax I tie
money at the Same tine put The dGcat into
her pocket SO as to throw justice On tie
wrong scent end lead it 70 suspect EaTie,
when the real criminal WAS, perhaps, an
experienced burglar? According to Law,
torture was only TO bs employed against the
accused when ey;denoe ageiast TIE prisorer